Workbench Wednesday

I have a big-ish project on my bench at the moment and I’d really like to add some more colour to it than with just the gems I’ve got set out. Enter the colored pencils… I want to do some experiments with drawing on primed metal to add colour to this piece. I’ve never owned proper artist-quality coloured pencils before, so today I went out and bought a lovely box of Prismacolors (spending half my birthday money… from two months ago. I’m not much of a shopper! <grin>).

The sketches are because my drawing skills are not a strong point, and I wanted to see what colours in this lovely new set work together for leaves before I start working on the metal. The wood-and-pastels smell as I sharpen and use these is particularly exciting! The pencils themselves are beautifully creamy and my sketches look as good as I could have wished for. I’m hoping that the books I’m working from for this technique know what they’re talking about, and that the gesso and sealant that the art supply store clerk recommended are appropriate for my application.

I can rarely actually work on Wednesdays, as my little guy is home with me and needs serious supervision if in the studio. It doesn’t work – if he goes up there the first thing he asks for is a hammer, then he goes looking for the pearl drawer. Not a good start!

Thus, usually on Wednesdays I duck upstairs to the studio to take a couple of shots of what I worked on on Tuesday to share with you. Today’s sort of experiment can be completed at the dining table away from the tools, which makes it ideal for my typical Wednesday. Hoping to finish a couple of prototype bits by Friday :)